text:
- Research
- Open access
- Published:
Effects of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy on surgical pathology specimens
Diagnostic Pathology volume 7, Article number: 24 (2012)
Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) has greatly changed clinical management of prostate cancer. It is important for pathologists and urologists to compare RALP with conventional open radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), and evaluate their effects on surgical pathology specimens.
We retrospectively reviewed and statistically analyzed 262 consecutive RALP (n = 182) and RRP (n = 80) procedures performed in our institution from 2007 to 2010. From these, 49 RALP and 33 RRP cases were randomly selected for additional microscopic examination to analyze the degree of capsular incision and the amount of residual prostate surface adipose tissue.
Positive surgical margins were present in 28.6% RALP and 57.5% RRP cases, a statistically significant difference. In patients with stage T2c tumors, which represent 61.2% RALP and 63.8% RRP patients, the positive surgical margin rate was 24.1% in the RALP group and 58.8% in the RRP group (statistically significant difference). For other pathologic stages, the differences in positive margins between RALP and RRP groups were not statistically significant. The incidence of positive surgical margins after RALP was related to higher tumor stage, higher Gleason score, higher tumor volume and lower prostate weight, but was not related to the surgeons performing the procedure. When compared with RRP, RALP also caused less severe prostatic capsular incision and maintained larger amounts of residual surface adipose tissue in prostatectomy specimens.
In this study RALP showed a statistically significant lower positive surgical margin rate than RRP. Analysis of capsular incision and amount of prostatic surface residual adipose tissue suggested that RALP caused less prostatic capsular damage than RRP.
Virtual slides
The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1278078279667611
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the United States [1]. Open radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) has long been the standard surgical procedure for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. In 1997, Schuessler et al. reported the first successful laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in an effort to reduce the morbidity of open radical prostatectomy [2], but because of its steep learning curve, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy was not widely adopted by most urologic surgeons in the United States. In 2000, Binder and Kramer performed the first robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP), which allowed three-dimensional viewing, improved ergonomic efficiency, eliminated hand tremor, and refined dexterity [3]. With the introduction of advanced robotic devices such as the Da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA), RALP has been so widely accepted in the treatment of prostate cancer that it is currently utilized in an estimated 69-85% of prostatectomies in the United States [4]. Compiled data has shown that in high-volume centers RALP is a safe option for treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer, with similar overall complication rates as conventional RRP. In some studies, RALP showed lower operative blood loss, decreased need for transfusion, and higher continence and potency rates when compared with RRP [5]. However, comparison of these procedures is still limited by the lack of randomized trials and long-term follow-up studies.
Because the long-term data comparing biochemical recurrence and disease-free survival between RALP and RRP are still not available due to the relatively short history of RALP, the incidence of positive surgical margins after RALP has become important in the evaluation of oncological outcomes of this procedure. In previous studies based on the analysis of RRP, positive surgical margins were found to be associated with an increased risk of biochemical and local disease recurrence, as well as the need for secondary treatment after radical prostatectomy [6]. The incidence of positive surgical margins after prostatectomy is related to many factors such as the preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, Gleason score, and tumor volume [7]. Differing surgical procedures may also contribute to the varying incidence of positive surgical margins; therefore, in this study we analyzed prostatectomies performed in our institute from 2007 to 2010, in an effort to compare RALP with conventional RRP. We compared the positive surgical margin rates between these two procedures and analyzed the factors associated with the incidence of positive surgical margin in RALP. Moreover, in order to evaluate the prostate capsular damage caused by both surgical procedures, we analyzed capsular incision and residual adipose tissue on the prostatic surface after RALP and RRP.
Materials and methods
Patient population
This study analyzed 262 consecutive prostatectomies, including 182 cases of RALP and 80 cases of RRP, performed in Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, North Carolina, during the period of August 2007 to March 2010. All the prostatectomy procedures were performed by surgeons from Eastern Urological Associates, P.A., Greenville, North Carolina. The da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) was used in RALP procedures. This study conformed to the Helsinki declaration and was approved by the University and Medical Center Institutional Review Board of East Carolina University.
Pathological processing of the prostatectomy specimens
All the prostatectomy specimens were processed in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Surgical pathology reports were signed out by board-certified pathologists, based on the findings from gross and microscopic examinations. This study collected and retrospectively examined the surgical pathology reports of 262 cases of RALP and RRP from the file in the pathology department. The data collected from surgical pathology reports were statistically analyzed.
Evaluation of prostatic capsular incision and surface adipose tissue
Eighty-two cases of prostatectomies, including 49 RALP and 33 RRP, were randomly selected for additional microscopic examination to evaluate prostatic capsular incision and the presence of residual adipose tissue on the prostatic surface. Capsular incision in this study was defined as an inked surgical margin involved by either benign prostatic glands or adenocarcinoma not associated with extraprostatic extension (EPE). For each case, the slides were microscopically examined and graded as 0 (no capsular incision), 1 (focal capsular incision) or 2 (capsular incision involving more than half of the inked surgical margin). We created a capsular incision index for each prostatectomy specimen, defined as the sum of scores from all the slides examined in one specimen divided by the highest possible sum of scores for the given specimen (i.e., 2 × number of slides). Residual adipose tissue on the prostate surface was evaluated by visual estimation of the percentage of inked prostate surface covered by adipose tissue in microscopic examination.
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics included frequencies of categorical variables and means and standard deviations (SD) of quantitative variables. Associations between categorical variables were examined using Chi-square tests. Mean differences of quantitative variables between groups of cases were assessed using two-sample t-tests or analysis of variance. Correlation coefficients were calculated for some quantitative variables. All analyses were performed using SAS version 9. All tests were at a significance level α = 0.05.
Demographics of prostate cancer patients with RALP and RRP procedures
The demographics of the 262 prostate cancer patients in this study who underwent prostatectomy by either RALP or RRP are listed in Table 1. Of these patients, 183 underwent RALP, representing 69.6% of the patients receiving prostatectomy for the treatment of prostate cancer during this period of time in our institution. The average ages of these two groups of patients were similar (60.8 years old for RALP and 60.5 years old for RRP). The pathologic stage and tumor volume did not differ significantly between the two groups (P = 0.305 and 0.207 respectively). Patients receiving RALP had lower average Gleason scores and greater average prostate weights (both statistically significant, P < 0.001).
Difference in surgical margin positivity rates between RALP and RRP
We first compared the surgical margins of the prostatectomy specimens for all patients involved in this study: while only 28.6% of the RALP group had positive surgical margins, 57.5% of the RRP group had positive surgical margins. The difference between these two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.001, Table 1). We also compared the surgical margins by pathologic stage between these two groups. For stage T2c patients, representing 61.5% of RALP patients and 63.8% of RRP patients, the positive surgical margin rate was 24.1% in the RALP group and 58.8% in the RRP group (statistically significant, P < 0.001). In patients with stages T2a or T2b, and these with T3 or T4, the difference in positive surgical margin rates between RALP and RRP groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.610 and 0.194 respectively, Table 1).
Factors related to positive surgical margins in RALP
For prostatectomy performed by RALP, we compared the tumor stage, tumor volume, Gleason score and prostate weight between patients with positive surgical margins and those with negative surgical margins (Table 2). The result showed that the group with positive surgical margins was related with higher tumor stage, higher tumor volume, higher Gleason score and lower prostate weight (all statistically significant, P = 0.014, 0.021, 0.033 and 0.004 respectively). Positive surgical margin rates did not differ significantly among different surgeons performing RALP (P = 0.977, Table 2). Similar analyses performed in RRP specimens found that only higher tumor volume was related to positive surgical margins; other factors showed no statistically significant difference between margin-positive and margin-negative groups in the RRP cohort (results not shown).
Differences in capsular incision index and prostate surface adipose tissue between RALP and RRP specimens
Capsular incision indicates damage to the prostate capsule caused by surgical procedures, which may contribute to a positive surgical margin if tumor is present at the site of capsular incision. As described in "Methods", we created a capsular incision index in this study to reflect the severity of capsular damage: a higher index suggests more extensive damage to the prostatic capsule during the surgical process. Analysis of 49 cases of RALP and 33 cases of RRP showed that the average capsular incision index was 0.127 for the RALP group and 0.233 for the RRP group (Table 3). The difference between these two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.009), suggesting that RRP caused more severe prostate capsular damage than RALP. We also compared the amount of residual surface adipose tissue in the RALP and RRP prostatectomy specimens, because the presence of surface adipose tissue suggests an undamaged prostate capsule at the observed area. Our analyses showed that the average percentage of prostatic surface covered with adipose tissue in RALP specimens was 73.2%, while that in RRP specimens was only 51.4% (Table 3), a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). We also analyzed the correlation between capsular incision index and the percentage of surface adipose tissue and found these two factors to have a negative linear correlation, with an r = -0.5536 (P < 0.001, Figure 1). This finding was consistent with our prediction that both capsular incision index and amount of prostatic surface adipose tissue are indicators of the degree of prostate capsular damage caused by surgical procedures.
RALP evolved over the last decade with significant efforts to improve functional outcomes following prostatectomy and has greatly changed the standard treatment of prostate cancer. Currently, about 69-85% of radical prostatectomies performed in the Unites States are done robotically [4]. Our study showed that 69.6% of the prostatectomies performed at our institution from 2007 to 2010 were RALP, a proportion consistent with current national utilization rates of the procedure. In order to compare the RALP and RRP procedures, we analyzed their respective positive surgical margin rates and found that the RALP patients had a lower average positive surgical margin rate than the RRP patients. When only the patients with stage T2c disease were compared, the positive surgical margin rate was still lower in the RALP group, but in patients with other pathologic stages, the differences in positive surgical margin rates between RALP and RRP groups were not statistically significant (Table 1).
Previous reports comparing positive surgical margins between RALP and RRP had conflicting results: some showed no significant difference between RALP and RRP [8–11]; others found a higher incidence of positive surgical margins in RALP [12–14]; while many suggested that RALP resulted in a lower incidence of positive surgical margins than RRP. Ficarra et al. analyzed the cumulative data from six studies published before 2008, and found a statistically significant difference in favor of RALP [15]. More recently, Coelho et al. compared the data from published reports of prostatectomies performed in high-volume centers, including 11 studies of RALP (8,472 cases) and 19 studies of RRP (41,729 cases), and found that the weighted mean positive surgical margin rates were 13.6% for RALP and 24% for RRP [5]. Other studies have also shown lower positive surgical margin rates in RALP than in RRP [16, 17]. It should be noted that all of the reports cited above were based on non-randomized studies, so that definitive conclusions can only be reached after randomized trials are done. When reviewing the previous studies, we noted that the positive surgical margin rate in our RALP group (28.6%) was comparable with the published data (9.3-33.3%) [5], but our RRP group showed a higher positive surgical margin rate (57.5%) than the reported range (8.8% to 42.8%) [5, 16]. The reason for the high positive surgical margin rate in our RRP patients is not clear. When evaluating the difference of positive surgical margin rates between the RALP and RRP patients in our study, we should also consider that the unusually high positive surgical margin in our RRP group may partially contribute to such a significant difference. However, as an institutional experience, the introduction of RALP into our institute did result in significantly reduced positive surgical margin rate of prostatectomy.
In an effort to analyze the factors associated with positive surgical margins in RALP specimens, we compared the tumor stage, tumor volume, Gleason score and prostate weight between the patients with positive and negative surgical margins, and found that the patients with positive surgical margins after RALP had higher tumor stage, higher tumor volume, higher Gleason score and lower prostate weight than those with negative surgical margins (Table 2). Our findings are consistent with some previous studies that analyzed the risk factors associated with positive surgical margins after RALP. Liss et al. analyzed 216 consecutive cases of RALP and found that the pathological stage and final pathological Gleason score were the strongest positive surgical margin predictors, while clinical stage and biopsy Gleason score were not predictors of a positive surgical margin [18]. Similarly, the study by Ficarra et al. that included 322 consecutive cases of RALP found that pathological stage and Gleason score in the prostatectomy specimens were independent predictors of multiple positive surgical margins [19]. As for the association between prostate weight and positive surgical margins in RALP, Marchetti et al. analyzed 690 low-risk prostate cancer patients receiving RALP and found that smaller prostate weight was independently associated with a higher probability of positive surgical margins [20]. Several other studies also noted an association of smaller prostate weight with higher positive surgical margin rates in RALP [21–24]. Our study results support these findings.
In this study, we also evaluated the damage to the prostate capsule caused by surgical procedures. The term "capsular incision" has long been used to describe the situation in which "the surgeon inadvertently develops the plane of resection within the prostate rather than exterior to the prostate" [25]. More recently it has also been referred to in many literatures as "intraprostatic incision", because prostate is considered not to have a true capsule [26]. In organ-confined prostate cancer, capsular incision in the area of tumor may cause a positive surgical margin. On the other hand, capsular incision which involves only benign prostatic glands has been found to have no significant association with age, preoperative PSA, prostate weight, pathological stage, tumor volume, Gleason score, PSA recurrence and other prognostic factors [27], so that capsular incision can theoretically be an independent indicator for evaluating the capsular damage caused by different surgical procedures. For this study we created a "capsular incision index" to reflect the levels of prostate capsular damage. Because this index is the result of examination of all slides in a specimen and is not affected by the size of the prostate, it may more accurately reflect the severity of capsular damage than the measurement of the size of capsular incision as done in many previous studies. Our results show that the capsular incision index was lower in RALP than RRP, suggesting that a more intact prostate capsule was preserved in RALP. The presence of benign glands at surgical margins of RALP specimens has been previously studied in only a few reports with a small number of cases. In a study by Kohl et al. that included 25 cases of RALP and 13 cases of RRP, benign glands were present at the surgical margins of 54% RALP and 15% RRP, a statistically significant difference [28]. The discrepancy between Kohl's study and ours is difficult to analyze because both are based on institutional experience with relatively small numbers of cases, although the case numbers in our study are more than twice those of Kohl's.
Our study also found that prostatectomy specimens from RALP showed more residual adipose tissue on the prostate surface than those from RRP. This is another evidence to suggest a better-preserved prostate capsule after RALP, since prostate surface adipose tissue can only be seen in the area where the capsule is not damaged. The amount of adipose tissue present on the prostate surface after prostatectomy is not related to tumor stage, Gleason score, tumor volume or many other factors [29], so that it can also function as an independent indicator for the evaluation of prostate capsular damage caused by surgical procedures. Because the presence of surface adipose tissue is important for the diagnosis of extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer [29, 30], our findings also suggest that RALP may provide better prostatectomy specimens for pathologic staging of prostate cancer than RRP.
In this study we analyzed 182 RALP and 80 RRP cases performed at our institution. We found that RALP performed in our institute caused statistically significant lower positive surgical margin rates than RRP, although we also noticed that the positive surgical margin rate of RRP in our study was higher than many previous reports. Our results also showed that positive surgical margin incidence after RALP was related to higher tumor stage, higher Gleason score, higher tumor volume and lower prostate weight. Analysis of capsular incision and the amount of residual adipose tissue on prostate surface in prostatectomy specimens suggested that RALP causes less capsular damage than RRP.
Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy
Radical retropubic prostatectomy
Prostate-specific antigen.
Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Xu J, Murray T, Thun MJ: Cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2008, 58: 71-96. 10.3322/CA.2007.0010.
Schuessler WW, Schulam PG, Clayman RV, Kavoussi LR: Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: initial short-term experience. Urology. 1997, 50: 854-857. 10.1016/S0090-4295(97)00543-8.
Binder J, Kramer W: Robotically-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. BJU Int. 2001, 87: 408-410.
Lowrance WT, Parekh DJ: The rapid uptake of robotic prostatectomy and its collateral effects. Cancer. 2012, 118: 4-7. 10.1002/cncr.26275.
Coelho RF, Rocco B, Patel MB, Orvieto MA, Chauhan S, Ficarra V, Melegari S, Palmer KJ, Patel VR: Retropubic, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a critical review of outcomes reported by high-volume centers. J Endourol. 2010, 24: 2003-2015. 10.1089/end.2010.0295.
Pfitzenmaier J, Pahernik S, Tremmel T, Haferkamp A, Buse S, Hohenfellner M: Positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy: do they have an impact on biochemical or clinical progression?. BJU Int. 2008, 102: 1413-1418.
Cheng L, Slezak J, Bergstralh EJ, Myers RP, Zincke H, Bostwick DG: Preoperative prediction of surgical margin status in patients with prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy. J Clin Oncol. 2000, 18: 2862-2868.
Parsons JK, Bennett JL: Outcomes of retropubic, laparoscopic, and robotic-assisted prostatectomy. Urology. 2008, 72: 412-416. 10.1016/j.urology.2007.11.026.
Ficarra V, Novara G, Fracalanza S, D'Elia C, Secco S, Iafrate M, Cavalleri S, Artibani W: A prospective, non-randomized trial comparing robot-assisted laparoscopic and retropubic radical prostatectomy in one European institution. BJU Int. 2009, 104: 534-539. 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2009.08419.x.
Schroeck FR, Sun L, Freedland SJ, Albala DM, Mouraviev V, Polascik TJ, Moul JW: Comparison of prostate-specific antigen recurrence-free survival in a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing either radical retropubic or robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. BJU Int. 2008, 102: 28-32. 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.07607.x.
Laurila TA, Huang W, Jarrard DF: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic and radical retropubic prostatectomy generate similar positive margin rates in low and intermediate risk patients. Urol Oncol. 2009, 27: 529-533. 10.1016/j.urolonc.2008.05.001.
Williams SB, Chen MH, D'Amico AV, Weinberg AC, Kacker R, Hirsch MS, Richie JP, Hu JC: Radical retropubic prostatectomy and robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: likelihood of positive surgical margin(s). Urology. 2010, 76: 1097-1101. 10.1016/j.urology.2009.11.079.
Cathcart P, Murphy DG, Moon D, Costello AJ, Frydenberg M: Perioperative, functional and oncological outcomes after open and minimally invasive prostate cancer surgery: experience from Australasia. BJU Int. 2011, 107 (Suppl 3): 11-19.
Magheli A, Gonzalgo ML, Su LM, Guzzo TJ, Netto G, Humphreys EB, Han M, Partin AW, Pavlovich CP: Impact of surgical technique (open vs laparoscopic vs robotic-assisted) on pathological and biochemical outcomes following radical prostatectomy: an analysis using propensity score matching. BJU Int. 2011, 107: 1956-1962. 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2010.09795.x.
Ficarra V, Novara G, Artibani W, Cestari A, Galfano A, Graefen M, Guazzoni G, Guillonneau B, Menon M, Montorsi F, Patel V, Rassweiler J, Van Poppel H: Retropubic, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and cumulative analysis of comparative studies. Eur Urol. 2009, 55: 1037-1063. 10.1016/j.eururo.2009.01.036.
White MA, De Haan AP, Stephens DD, Maatman TK, Maatman TJ: Comparative analysis of surgical margins between radical retropubic prostatectomy and RALP: are patients sacrificed during initiation of robotics program?. Urology. 2009, 73: 567-571. 10.1016/j.urology.2008.11.011.
Di Pierro GB, Baumeister P, Stucki P, Beatrice J, Danuser H, Mattei A: A prospective trial comparing consecutive series of open retropubic and robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in a centre with a limited caseload. Eur Urol. 2011, 59: 1-6. 10.1016/j.eururo.2010.10.026.
Liss M, Osann K, Ornstein D: Positive surgical margins during robotic radical prostatectomy: a contemporary analysis of risk factors. BJU Int. 2008, 102: 603-608. 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.07672.x.
Ficarra V, Novara G, Secco S, D'Elia C, Boscolo-Berto R, Gardiman M, Cavalleri S, Artibani W: Predictors of positive surgical margins after laparoscopic robot assisted radical prostatectomy. J Urol. 2009, 182: 2682-2688. 10.1016/j.juro.2009.08.037.
Marchetti PE, Shikanov S, Razmaria AA, Zagaja GP, Shalhav AL: Impact of prostate weight on probability of positive surgical margins in patients with low-risk prostate cancer after robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Urology. 2011, 77: 677-681. 10.1016/j.urology.2010.07.512.
Msezane LP, Gofrit ON, Lin S, Shalhav AL, Zagaja GP, Zorn KC: Prostate weight: an independent predictor for positive surgical margins during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Can J Urol. 2007, 14: 3697-3701.
Sooriakumaran P, Srivastava A, Bhagat D, John M, Grover S, El-Douaihy Y, Rajan S, Leung R, Tewari A: Prostate volume and its correlation with histopathological outcomes in prostate cancer. Urol Int. 2011, 86: 152-155. 10.1159/000322361.
Zorn KC, Orvieto MA, Mikhail AA, Gofrit ON, Lin S, Schaeffer AJ, Shalhav AL, Zagaja GP: Effect of prostate weight on operative and postoperative outcomes of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy. Urology. 2007, 69: 300-305. 10.1016/j.urology.2006.10.021.
Pettus JA, Masterson T, Sokol A, Cronin AM, Savage C, Sandhu JS, Mulhall JP, Scardino PT, Rabbani F: Prostate size is associated with surgical difficulty but not functional outcome at 1 year after radical prostatectomy. J Urol. 2009, 182: 949-955. 10.1016/j.juro.2009.05.029.
Epstein JI: Incidence and significance of positive margins in radical prostatectomy specimens. Urol Clin North Am. 1996, 23: 651-663. 10.1016/S0094-0143(05)70343-8.
Tan PH, Cheng L, Srigley JR, Griffiths D, Humphrey PA, van der Kwast TH, Montironi R, Wheeler TM, Delahunt B, Egevad L, Epstein JI, ISUP Prostate Cancer Group: International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) consensus conference on handling and staging of radical prostatectomy specimens. Working group 5: surgical margins. Mod Pathol. 2011, 24: 48-57. 10.1038/modpathol.2010.155.
Kernek KM, Koch MO, Daggy JK, Juliar BE, Cheng L: The presence of benign prostatic glandular tissue at surgical margins does not predict PSA recurrence. J Clin Pathol. 2005, 58: 725-728. 10.1136/jcp.2004.024182.
Kohl SK, Balaji KC, Smith LM, Wilson NP, Johansson SL, Sterrett SP, Abrahams NA: Clinical significance of benign glands at surgical margins in robotic radical prostatectomy specimens. Urology. 2007, 69: 1112-1116. 10.1016/j.urology.2007.02.048.
Hong H, Koch MO, Foster RS, Bihrle R, Gardner TA, Fyffe J, Ulbright TM, Eble JN, Cheng L: Anatomic distribution of periprostatic adipose tissue: a mapping study of 100 radical prostatectomy specimens. Cancer. 2003, 97: 1639-1643. 10.1002/cncr.11231.
Bostwick DG: Staging prostate cancer-1997: current methods and limitations. Eur Urol. 1997, 32 (Suppl 3): 2-14.
We want to thank Dr. Miriam Wildeman for her help in the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
HH, LM, JT and HR contributed to study design, data collection and analysis. HH and LM contributed to additional microscopic examination. QW was responsible for the statistical analysis. All authors approved the current version of the manuscript.
Authors' original submitted files for images
Below are the links to the authors' original submitted files for images.
Rights and permissions
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
About this article
Cite this article
Hong, H., Mel, L., Taylor, J. et al. Effects of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy on surgical pathology specimens. Diagn Pathol 7, 24 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1596-7-24
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1596-7-24


text:
Well-known Pakistani blogger, influential Twitter user and TV host Raza Rumi was attacked on March 28 in Lahore on his way home by a spray of gunfire. Although Rumi escaped with only a minor injury, his 25-year old driver was killed. His guard was also seriously injured.
Rumi, a one-time contributor to Global Voices, was on the Taliban's hit list because he opposed the government's peace talks with the militant group and his moderate views were taken as anti-Islamic.
Global Voices recently talked with Rumi about the terrifying experience and the precarious situation of journalists in Pakistan.
Global Voices (GV): Did you receive threats prior to the attack?
Raza Rumi (RR): Yes, I had received threats in two or three forms. There were lot of threats given on social media on Facebook and Twitter- certain threats on Facebook were very graphic. They were sighting various texts saying, "People like you who are secular are anti-Islam and need to be eliminated-they have to be killed". And there were couple of death threats on Twitter even last year, and I used to report them also. But the problem with social media is that they would immediately deactivate or delete their accounts or these account are anonymous.
I also got indirect threats on my TV show on Capital TV. There were live callers who were always insinuating or hinting that whatever I was saying was offensive and wrong about the Taliban and I will have to face consequences. Then in January-February, the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan] issued a list of people who are in their so called hit list and my name was also there. I tried to ask around whether these threats are credible and I got mixed views. Some people said, it is just to scare you and don't take it seriously. And then off course the Express media group I joined in January had already suffered a few attacks. They also received faxes and threat letters in which I was also mentioned.
GV: Did you report the threats to authorities? Did you get any response?
RR: You can report these threats to Pakistani authorities but fact of the matter is, nothing happens. Frankly one has such low faith in the ability of our authorities to do something. But I did alert them and told them about the threats I was getting – by and large I thought, let me take it in my stride and god will save me. But obviously I was wrong, and it finally happened to me. When I heard the sounds of bullets, I knew they had come for me. My mind suddenly picked up the signal and I immediately hid myself and laid down on the floor of the car. The bullets were crossing over me. The fired from the sides, from the back and front of the car, and I could hear the bullets. In fact, they had done their job; luckily I survived. My faith in miracles has been revived after this incident.
GV: Did you inform your employer, the Express media group, about the threats?
RR: Yes, I did. I made the first call to my colleague in the Express when I was attacked. I told the chief executive officer and they came around and did all they could. I informed the Express group even earlier about these threats and they advised me to be soft, not to be too hard on the extremists (Taliban). I wouldn't call it censorship – they were advising caution and change of tone. In all fairness I would admit that I did act on their advice.
GV: You discontinued your TV show following the attack. Was it your personal decision or were you advised to do so by your employer?
RR: Initially I took a break as it was getting stressful for me. I was traumatized by this incident. There was trauma, there was paranoia and above all there were threats. After the attack, I was locked in my house for ten days. Police had told me not to move without security. I was also cautious after the horrific death of my 25-year-old driver and injuries to the other person. I didn't want any human being to be harmed on my account. I recently realized that I was doing it for myself because the state was not doing much for my security. All security experts were unanimous of the view that the attackers had missed their target and they would come back to strike again. What choice do I have? I had to go out of Pakistan to regain my sanity – I was going bonkers. Now I have been away and it is logistically difficult to do these shows from abroad.
GV: The Punjab police arrested six men, who are members of banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), in the attack. Will the government be able to bring those responsible to justice?
RR: I fully hope and pray that the government shows that kind of resolve and ability, but judging the track record of our criminal justice system, I am not very hopeful. The police have said that these people are from a banned militant outfit and that banned organisation is well known for its ability to muzzle the process of justice in Pakistan. But I want to press hard and hard that the killers of my 25-year-old driver Mustafa and his family should get justice.
GV: According to a recent report by Amnesty International, the situation of journalists in Pakistan has deteriorated. A total of 34 journalists have been killed in response to their work since democracy was restored in 2008. Since Nawaz Sharif took over in June 2013, at least eight journalists have been killed in the line of duty. What is your take on this?
RR: It shows that the civilian governments are not fully in charge of the country's security policy. Because the policy requires doing something about the very powerful non-state actors. According to the police, I may have been attacked by one of those non-state actors. Firstly, this situation would only improve if federal or provincial government would have a clear policy of what to do with these banned organisations.
Secondly, it's the seventh year that civilians have been in charge but the civilians have not made an effort to reform the police system, or the civil service or even bring back the local government system. What that essentially means is that they have contributed to the existing state of lawlessness and insecurity. It is not just for journalists – the ordinary people are vulnerable. But most journalists are vulnerable because they face two kind of threats – state and non-state. Sadly, the two governments haven't done much about the safety and security of journalists.
The case of Saleem Shahzad is instructive. He was killed in 2011. He was picked up from the capital and later his body was found. The then government set up a commission and it took ages and ultimately the report came out and it didn't say much. It is time for the political parties to take lead. As almost all the political parties of Pakistan are sharing power in the provinces, if they wouldn't do enough for the media freedom then their own democratic future is uncertain.
GV: What role can media houses play to bring security and safety to journalists?
RR: We keep on blaming the ISI [government spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence] and state authorities but the question is – are these big powerful corporate entities playing the kind of role they ought to play? They don't equip their staffers when they go out in the war zone or to cover a blast scene. They don't even give them health insurance. And they are not uniting to fight against the common enemy. Their personal and corporate rivalries outweigh journalists' security.
GV: What is the future of journalism in Pakistan?
RR: The future is going to be full of danger until we have the media houses waking up. The future of security of journalists is linked to the security of ordinary Pakistanis.
Top World Stories
1 comment
Well, Thanks to Allah that he was escaped. We love him and we want to listen him again. The state it self is not ready to eliminate these outfits. It is clear to every one now.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- English (12)
Has Fulltext
- yes (12)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (12)
A new region of proton-rich parent nuclei decaying by spontaneous cluster emission with a measurable branching ratio relative to alpha decay is predicted within the analytical superasymmetric fission model. After a brief presentation of the model and of the seven mass tables used to calculate the released energy, the obtained results are discussed. Measurable half-lives and branching ratios are estimated for 12C, 16O, 28Si, and other cluster radioactivities of some nuclides having proton and neutron numbers in the range Z=56–64 and N=58–72. Such nuclei far from stability could be produced in reactions induced by radioactive beams.
The components of the nuclear inertia tensor, functions of the separation distance R and of the radius of the light fragment R2, BRR(R,R2), BRR2(R,R2), and BR2R2(R,R2) are calculated within the Werner-Wheeler approximation, by using the parametrization of two intersected symmetric or asymmetric spheres. Analytical relationships are derived. When projected to a path R2=R2(R), the reduced mass is obtained at the touching point. The two one-dimensional parametrizations with R2=const, and the volume V2=const previously studied, are found to be particular cases of the present more general approach. Illustrations for the cold fission, cluster radioactivity, and α decay of 252Cf are given.
We investigate the influence of nuclear masses, radii, and interaction potentials on 12C radioactivity of 114the best representative of a new island of cluster emitters leading to daughter nuclei around the doubly magic 100Sn. Three different models are considered: one derived by Blendowske, Fliessbach, and Walliser (BFW) from the many-body theory of alpha decay, as well as our analytical (ASAF) and numerical (NuSAF) superasymmetric fission models. A Q value larger by 1 MeV or an ASAF potential barrier reduced by 3% are producing a half-life shorter by 2 orders of magnitude. A similar effect can be obtained within BFW and NuSAF by a decrease of the action integral with less than 10% and 5%, respectively. By increasing the radius constant within ASAF or BFW models by 10%, the half-life becomes shorter by 3 orders of magnitude.
The great majority of the known nuclides with Z>40, including the so-called stable nuclides, are metastable with respect to several modes of spontaneous superasymmetric splitting. A model extended from the fission theory of alpha decay allows one to estimate the lifetimes and the branching ratios relative to the alpha decay for these natural radioactivities. From a huge amount of systematic calculations it is concluded that the process should proceed with maximum intensity in the trans-lead nuclei, where the minimum lifetime is obtained from parent-emitted heavy ion combinations leading to a magic (208Pb) or almost magic daughter nucleus. More than 140 nuclides with atomic number smaller than 25 are possible candidates to be emitted from heavy nuclei, with half-lives in the range of 1010–1030 s: 5He, 8–10Be, 11,12B, 12–16C, 13–17N, 15–22O, 18–23F, 20–26Ne, 23–28Na, 23–30Mg, 27–32Al, 28–36Si, 31–39P, 32–42S, 35–45Cl, 37–47Ar, 40–49 K, 42-51. . .Ca, 44–53 Sc, 46–53Ti, 48–54V, and 49–55 Cr. The shell structure and the pairing effects are clearly manifested in these new decay modes.
By using the analytical superasymmetric fission model it is shown that all ''stable'' nuclei lighter than lead with Z>40 are metastable relative to the spontaneous emission of nuclear clusters. An even-odd effect is included in the zero point vibration energy. Half-lives in the range 1040–1050 s are obtained for Z>62. The region of metastability against these new decay modes is extended beyond that for α decay and in some cases, in the competing region, the emission rates for nuclear clusters are larger than for α decay.
The wave function of a spheroidal harmonic oscillator without spin-orbit interaction is expressed in terms of associated Laguerre and Hermite polynomials. The pairing gap and Fermi energy are found by solving the BCS system of two equations. Analytical relationships for the matrix elements of inertia are obtained function of the main quantum numbers and potential derivative. They may be used to test complex computer codes one should develop in a realistic approach of the fission dynamics. The results given for the 240 Pu nucleus are compared with a hydrodynamical model. The importance of taking into account the correction term due to the variation of the occupation number is stressed.
Potential energy surfaces are calculated by using the most advanced asymmetric two-center shell model allowing to obtain shell and pairing corrections which are added to the Yukawa-plus-exponential model deformation energy. Shell effects are of crucial importance for experimental observation of spontaneous disintegration by heavy ion emission. Results for 222Ra, 232U, 236Pu and 242Cm illustrate the main ideas and show for the first time for a cluster emitter a potential barrier obtained by using the macroscopic-microscopic method.
Complex fission phenomena
Complex fission phenomena are studied in a unified way. Very general reflection asymmetrical equilibrium (saddle point) nuclear shapes are obtained by solving an integro-differential equation without being necessary to specify a certain parametrization. The mass asymmetry in binary cold fission of Th and U isotopes is explained as the result of adding a phenomenological shell correction to the liquid drop model deformation energy. Applications to binary, ternary, and quaternary fission are outlined.
We developed a three-center phenomenological model,able to explain qualitatively the recently obtained experimental results concerning the quasimolecular stage of a light-particle accompanied fission process. It was derived from the liquid drop model under the assumption that the aligned configuration, with the emitted particle between the light and heavy fragment, is reached by increasing continuously the separation distance, while the radii of the heavy fragment and of the light particle are kept constant. In such a way,a new minimum of a short-lived molecular state appears in the deformation energy at a separation distance very close to the touching point. This minimum allows the existence of a short-lived quasi-molecular state, decaying into the three final fragments.The influence of the shell effects is discussed. The half-lives of some quasimolecular states which could be formed in the $^{10}$Be and $^{12}$C accompanied fission of $^{252}$Cf are roughly estimated to be the order of 1 ns, and 1 ms, respectively.


text:
Click to enlarge. Black bordered details were spliced from screencaps and almost all of the images have been cleansed. A bit.
The Swedish East India Company was formed under Royal Charter in 1731 and granted exclusive national trading rights with Asia, mostly through the port of Canton ( near Hong Kong). Round-trip voyages from the company's headquarters in Göteborg took around eighteen months and the major commodities transported back were tea, silk, porcelain and spices.
In all, there were 127 voyages undertaken prior to the company's becoming insolvent in 1813 due to reduced profits during the Napoleonic years. Eight major sailing vessels were either lost or partially destroyed while the company was operating, including the 'Götheborg', which famously sank on return to the harbour in Göteborg in 1745. In the 1990s, marine archaeologists were able to salvage some of the original ship, and after a ten year rebuilding project, a to-scale replica undertook a nineteen month voyage from Sweden to China and back, returning to Göteborg in June 2007.
The images above come from the diary of a cartographer (Carl Johan Gethe) on board the 'Götha Leyon', which left Sweden on a three year trading expedition in 1746. There is very little I can find about this particular voyage saving to note that a pupil of Carolus Linneaus, Carl Gustav Ekberg*, was the Ship's Surgeon and functioned as an amateur naturalist. One of the maps seen above is of the port of Cadiz in Spain, where ships stopped to trade merchandise for Spanish silver coins which they then used to purchase goods in China.
Gethe's diary ('Dagbok') (title: 'Dagbok hållen på resan till Ost Indien begynt den 18 octobr: 1746 och slutad den 20 juni 1749') is one of two diaries from crew members on the same voyage which are hosted by the National Library of Sweden. Although fairly similar, I think the quality of the watercolour sketches in Gethe's book is superior. The illustrations are elegant and beautifully colourful, if at times a little unsophisticated.
- Swedish National Library 'Ostindiska Kompaniet' website - the diaries.
- Swedish East India Company - wikipedia.
- The Swedish East India Company digital archives (I posted a few items previously).
- The Swedish Ship Götheborg website with film, images, accounts in relation to the 2005-2007 reenactment voyage. (film plays automatically when loaded)


text:
PO Box 704
Douglassville PA 19518
If you call and we do not answer we are
probably in the shop making cookie cutters.
For ideas on how to decorate this cutter
American Tradition Cookie Cutters is proud to present their (3.5" or 8.89 cm) STAR OF BETHLEHEM cookie cutter. This cookie cutter is made by us in the USA. It is made of tinplate steel that is (1" or 2.54 cm) deep. All sizes are approximate and measurements are taken from the two furthermost points on the cutter.


text:
I can finally share the news about one of my latest projects--
Next year will see the release of THE ULTRA VIOLETS,
written by Sophie Bell with illustrations by ME!
Published by Penguin Books for young adult readers, it tells the story
of "four spunky BFFs who accidentally end up on the wrong side of a
genetics experiment and become superheroes... THE ULTRA VIOLETS!"
It won't be released until April 2013 (This is a not-quite-final cover),


text:
ShareCalculating surface temperature using Landsat thermal imagery
Abduwasit Ghulam, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Center for Environmental Sciences, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO 63103
In this lab, students are walked through a hands-on exercise converting digital numbers to at sensor brightness temperatures using Level 1B Landsat ETM+ thermal imagery acquired over Tallahassee, Florida, USA on November 06, 1999.
Type and level of course
GIS 4XX, Geospatial Methods, is an upper level course designed for college level geosciences students, and introduces integrated remote sensing, GIS, GPS techniques in coastal zone management and/or environmental studies.
Geoscience background assumed in this assignment
Introductory level geology knowledge is preferred, but not required.
GIS/remote sensing skills/background assumed in this assignment
An introductory course in remote sensing, GIS is preferred, but not required.
Software required for this assignment/activity:
ENVI; ArcGIS (ArcView or ArcInfo with Spatial Analyst Extension)
Time required for students to complete the assignment:
2 hours
GIS/remote sensing techniques students learn in this assignment
- Familiarize students with concepts of digital numbers, radiance, brightness and surface temperature
- Practice spectral sampling
- Familiarize with radiometric calibration
Other content/concepts goals for this activity
Familiarize students with the basics of groundwater hydrology, and structural controls of submarine springs in coastal areas
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Groundwater discharge in coastal zones may be detected using thermal remote sensing data based on the temperature anomalies between sea water and ground water discharge - the so-called submarine springs. Sustainable harness of submarine groundwater discharge, exploiting them before flow into the sea is of paramount importance for arid regions located in sea shorelines.
- Thermal differences between seawater and groundwater discharge.
- Groundwater temperature may be constant year round.
Description of the activity/assignment
Students are walked through downloading Landsat ETM+ data, and converting digital numbers to radiance, and then to temperature. Students are required to apply what they have learned in the lecture on thermal remote sensing to a practical example. Students are expected to discuss identified thermal anomalies in Florida's coastal zone, and its possible association with submarine springs by consulting geologic maps.Determining whether students have met the goals
The thermal anomaly maps and an extended abstract that illustrates the connection between submarine springs and thermal anomalies can be used for assessment. Evidences referenced from the other sources, e.g., geologic maps, to confirm the association of thermal anomalies with groundwater aquifers to prove/disprove their interpretation is a plus.More information about assessment tools and techniques.
URLs and References
Go to USGS website http://glovis.usgs.gov, and download the data following the lab handout attached to this manual.
JIMÉNEZ-MUÑOZ, J.C., SOBRINO, J.A. 2003. A generalized single-channel method for retrieving land surface temperature from remote sensing data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, doi: 10.1029/2003JD003480
QIN, Z., KARNIELI, A., BERLINER, P. 2001. A mono-window algorithm for retrieving land surface temperature from Landsat TM data and its application to the Israel-Egypt border region. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22, pp.3719-3746.
Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment: Student handout for Calculating Temperature (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Aug6 10)
- Instructors Notes:
- Solution Set:
Other Materials
Calculating surface temperature using Landsat thermal imagery --Discussion


text:
Princeton University and the Max Planck Society of Germany have joined forces in a scientific collaboration that is designed to accelerate progress in cutting-edge research ranging from harnessing fusion to understanding solar storms.
Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman and President of the Max Planck Society Peter Gruss participated Thursday, March 29, in a signing ceremony in Whig Hall on the Princeton campus to officially start the Max Planck Princeton Research Center for Plasma Physics. The center will be a virtual facility in which researchers will work cooperatively on projects from their current locations.
"This collaboration with Germany's distinguished Max Planck Society is certain to enhance our common excellence in fusion and plasma astrophysical research and, more broadly, to advance the development of clean and abundant energy," Tilghman said.
Such cooperation is coming at precisely the right time, according to Gruss. "It is essential that we pool our strengths and knowledge in the field of fusion research, in particular, so that we can develop nuclear fusion into something the world urgently needs for the years and decades to come: safe, clean and abundant energy technology," Gruss said.
The new center will combine the research capabilities of Princeton's Department of Astrophysical Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) with the Max Planck Society's institutes for plasma physics, astrophysics and solar system research. The selected topics will focus on issues that are crucial to both fusion and astrophysical plasmas. Such plasmas consist of superhot and electrically charged gases whose fusion powers the sun and stars.
A. J. Stewart Smith, Princeton's dean for research and the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics, served as master of ceremonies and welcomed the guests from Germany in remarks delivered in German. Turning to the new research center, Smith said that "this new partnership with the Max Planck Society will establish a world-leading effort to link the studies of plasmas and fusion in the universe and on Earth. This will continue the grand vision of Princeton astrophysics giant Lyman Spitzer, who more than 50 years ago initiated the Hubble Space Telescope and founded PPPL."
Smith delivered a statement from William Brinkman, director of the DOE's Office of Science, who was unable to attend. Brinkman noted that the DOE "welcomes the creation of this new center in such an exciting field as plasma astrophysics. From questions of the dynamics of accretion disks surrounding black holes, to the plasma dynamo processes that create interstellar magnetic fields, to the anomalous heating of the solar corona — these questions are challenges that need to be addressed and we are looking forward to the interaction with the institutes of the Max Planck Society on them."
James Van Dam, director of the research division of the DOE's Office of Fusion Science, pointed out, "We have had years of excellent collaboration with German scientists, and this brings it to a new level. The interconnectedness of plasma physics is just amazing, and we really appreciate that this new center is involved in the whole field."
The collaboration will benefit from the complementary strengths and research tools of this trans-Atlantic partnership. Both PPPL and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) operate major experimental fusion facilities, for example. "There is wonderful synergy between PPPL and the Max Planck IPP," said PPPL Director Stewart Prager. "We are very enthused to combine the capabilities of the two labs to make otherwise unattainable advances in key problems in fusion and astrophysics."
Insights gained from the study of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas are expected to be mutually reinforcing. "What is most exciting about the center to me is the focus on basic physical processes that are important in a diverse range of astrophysical systems," said James Stone, a Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences and applied and computational mathematics who will oversee the U.S. side of the venture related to his own discipline. "I know the astrophysicists are going to learn a lot from their plasma physics colleagues, and I think the reverse is going to be true as well."
The field of plasma astrophysics is growing in interest among researchers around the world. PPPL scientists are studying such astrophysical phenomena as the source of violent space weather and the formation of stars. This research is conducted on PPPL devices called the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment and the Magnetorotational Instability experiment, respectively.
Prager from PPPL, Stone from astrophysical sciences and Sibylle Günter, director of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, will form the new center's leading team. "The aim of the cooperation is to make greater use of the synergies between fusion research and the work carried out by the astrophysicists," Günter said.
Among other German guests attending the ceremony were Sami Solanki, director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, and Busso von Alvensleben, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York.
The formation of the center will enhance already strong research collaborations between the groups, scientists said. For example, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, are building the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator, which will confine plasma with a magnetic field that is shaped like a cruller — a spiral wrapped around a circle. The stellarator device, also called W7X, is designed as one of two major configurations for experimental fusion facilities. Researchers at PPPL also plan to conduct experiments on W7X. In addition, PPPL is providing components for W7X known as "trim coils." The barn door-size coils, being manufactured by Everson Tesla Inc. of Nazareth, Pa., will fine-tune the shape of the magnetic "bottle" confining the hot ionized gas studied in fusion.
There are shared interests that could spark new partnerships, too. PPPL, for example, is currently involved in implementing a $94 million upgrade on its largest research machine, the National Spherical Torus Experiment, and carries out laboratory experiments on general plasma physics. Max Planck scientists working in Greifswald are also researching this topic.
Eight postdoctoral fellows from PPPL and the Department of Astrophysical Sciences will staff the center, along with 13 postdoctoral fellows from the Max Planck institutes. These researchers will work with senior scientists on both sides of the Atlantic who will oversee the fellows as part of the scientists' regular duties.
Financial support for the center will come from the United States and Germany. Funding for the Princeton side will come from the DOE, the National Science Foundation and Princeton University. The Max Planck Society will fund its institutes' collaborative activities.


text:
In the past week, we've reviewed What Twitter Is and Why You May Want to Use It. If you're not a Twitter user and I've convinced you to become one, how do you get engaged with the service? Next week I'll complete this series on Twitter with tips on how to be successful, but for today's blog post I'm going to concentrate on the basics of how to sign up and use the service.
To sign up, go to Twitter.com, click "Get Started-Join," and in two minutes you can be Twittering. It's free, so what do you have to lose?
After selecting a username and password, Twitter will present you with the opportunity to check your Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, or MSN address book for contacts that already use Twitter. Many people skip this step, but I'd recommend you take the time to see who you may know on Twitter. Since Twitter without connections is merely talking to yourself, an important first step is to find your acquaintances who are already Twittering. You will be presented with a list of people you know and can follow all of them at the click of a button.
Once you complete that step, you are ready to create your first Tweet--or two or three. Since those people you just followed in the prior step will be visiting your Twitter page to view your profile and Tweets, you will want to welcome them with more than just a single "Checking out what Twitter is all about" Tweet. In your initial Tweets, let people know what you're doing, what you hope to get out of Twitter, or ask for some Twitter advice from your more experienced friends and family.
At this time you can also configure your Twitter account to send and receive Tweets to your cell phone. If you're the type to use your phone for text, email, or IM, it's a good idea to take a few minutes to link your cell phone with Twitter. This will permit you to receive Tweets from those you follow and update your status when you're out and about. But be careful—as your Twitter list grows, the volume of Tweets you receive can be substantial. Set up your phone to send Tweets, but be very selective about who's Tweets get forwarded as text messages to your phone. (I follow around 400 people, but I receive texted Tweets for only a dozen of them.)
Posting a Tweet is very easy. Type your message in the "What are you doing?" box and click "Update." As you type, the character counter will track how much space you have left. Your Tweets can contain up to 140 characters; if you enter more than that, the "Update" button will be deactivated until you reduce your Tweet under 140 characters.
Many people post links on Twitter. It's a great way to share news, interesting sites, or products that you like. One problem with posting Web addresses in 140-character Tweets is that the addresses can require so many characters. A slew of services have popped up to help solve this problem. Good ones include TinyURL.com, is.gd, and BudURL.com. Simply copy the address of the page you want to share from your browser's address bar, paste it into the field on one of those sites, and click "submit." You will be presented with a much shorter Web address that can be shared on Twitter. For example, sharing http://www.experiencetheblog.com/2008/10/twitter-101-part-2-why-you-may-want-to.html would require 84 characters, but using is.gd, I created a link (http://is.gd/4u7n) that is only 17 characters long.
In my first post of my Twitter series, I mentioned that threading was an important feature of Twitter. Threading is a means of connecting related Twitter posts into a string of back-and-forth responses.
You can create a Tweet that is directed at someone or replies to someone by beginning your Tweet with the "at" symbol (@) followed by the username of that person. Keep in mind that replies are visible to everyone who follows you and everyone who visits your Twitter page (so don't say anything you don't want the world to see). Here's an example of a reply Tweet:
@deziner Thanks for the great link. I found the article very interesting.If you see a Tweet from a friend on your Twitter page and wish to respond, you don't need to type the "@deziner" part of the message. When you move your mouse cursor over a person's Tweet, you'll see a little curvy arrow; click on this arrow and the "What are you doing?" field will be populated with the "@" symbol followed by the username of the person to which you are responding. You can then complete your Tweet and click "Update."
Replying in this manner not only creates a conversation on Twitter, it also creates a way for that user to be made aware that you've replied. As you accumulate followers on Twitter, you'll find your home page quickly fills up with Tweets. If someone responds and you don't check your page in a timely manner, their Tweet could scroll off the first page (which makes it unlikely you'd see it). Luckily, Twitter figured out this would be a problem, so all the @replies you receive are accumulated on their own page. On the right side of the page, click on "@Replies" and you'll get a list of Tweets that were directed at you.
What if you want to send a Twitter message to someone without the world seeing it? Twitter has a direct messaging capability; in the "What are you doing" field, enter the letter "D" followed by a space and then the username. Here's an example of a direct message:
d gmil What are you doing tonight? Want to get together for a drink?Addressing a Tweet in this manner ensures no one but the recipient will see your direct message. As with @Replies, you can see the direct messages that are directed at you by clicking the "Direct Messages" link on the right side of your page.
Twitter.com has other features, but that is the gist of how to use the microblogging service's site.
That doesn't mean there isn't anything more to say about how to use Twitter. Twitter permits other sites and tools to access its service, so many people use Twitter without ever visiting Twitter.com. In fact, by some estimates fewer than half of Twitter users actually use Twitter.com to view and post Tweets.
You can find one exhaustive list of Twitter applications here. This list contains over 100 different applications for managing Twitter accounts on Windows, Linux, Mac, and cell phones running Windows Mobile, iPhone, Android, Java, BlackBerry, and Palm. I've tested only a handful of these applications, so I can't make any real recommendations. I can tell you that the few I've tried have made it much easier to monitor and manage Twitter:
- twhirl is an application that makes it possible to manage multiple Twitter accounts simultaneously. You cannot do this on the Twitter site since you can only log into one account at a time. Twhirl is perfect for maintaining a personal and business account concurrently.
- Digsby provides a means to manage not just Twitter, but also to monitor and update Facebook, LinkedIn, IM, and email accounts. It's a powerful tool for managing all of your digital communications in one place.
- I've not tested TweetDeck, but I've heard great things about it from power Twitter users. Once you start accumulating many followers, it can become difficult to keep track of the people you really care about. TweetDeck allows users to split their main feed of all Tweets into topic or group specific columns.
- On my Windows Mobile SmartPhone, I use Tiny Twitter for reading and posting Tweets and GPS Twit for accessing my phone's GPS and posting a link to a map of my location. I also use a service called Brightkite for sharing when I am at restaurants and other commercial establishments.
The best way to start with Twitter is to begin on the Web site. After you get a sense of the rhythms, practices, and ways of Twitter, you can then download and test applications for your computer and cell phone.
Anyone can sign up and start posting Tweets, but being successful on Twitter takes a sense of what you want to accomplish, how much you care to share, and the kind of people you'll choose to follow. Please check ExperienceTheBlog.com early next week for the final part of this series on Twitter: Tips for Being Successful on Twitter.


text:
Search for tag: "cell/matrix"
Your search for "" did not match any media.
- Make sure you spelled the word correctly
- Try a different search term
Your search for "" did not match any media.
Contact Technology Services to report an issue, offer feedback, or request assistance. | |
Technology Services Home | Kaltura Help | Privacy Policy | |
Illinois Media Space, © 2022 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois |


text:
- Home
- Emergency Management
Emergency Management
Office of Emergency Management
The Office of Emergency Management, a division of the Parker Police Department, is tasked with preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from large-scale emergencies and disasters, both natural and man-made, within the Town of Parker. We accomplish this through the development of programs that lessen the effects of emergencies or disasters while maintaining an all-hazard approach to planning, educating the community on emergency preparedness and the coordination of emergency response within the Town.
The primary purpose of this site is to educate residents on the importance of being able to take care of themselves until emergency personnel arrive as well as being prepared and trained to help in assisting in saving lives, reducing injuries and protecting property. You will have a better chance of surviving and recovering from major disasters if you understand the dangers that are facing you, make your own preparations and learn what actions you should take at the time of an emergency.
Emergency Notifications
Emergency notifications will alert people of incidents in their area with a prerecorded phone message, email or text. Sign up for emergency notifications.
Weather Alerts & Warnings
Curious about the difference between a warning and a watch? See definitions of various alerts and warnings that could affect the Town of Parker here Version OptionsEmergency ManagementHeadline.
Emergency Preparedness Tips
- 72-Hour Kits (PDF)
- Make a Plan (PDF)
- Plan for Pets (PDF)
- Plan for Livestock (PDF)
- Be Prepared: Flooding
- Be Prepared: Tornado
- Be Prepared: Wildfire
- Be Prepared: Snow Storm / Blizzard
Preparedness Classes
Fire Restrictions
Fire restrictions will be posted on our social media pages and sent out as a news bulletin via our website when in place.


text:
On January 23, the Central African Republic's top
Muslim and Christian clerics called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to
end their country's brutal conflict.
Speaking at a press conference in Paris, the two
said the conflict was not religiously motivated, but warned that only justice
and reconciliation at the grass roots can bring longer-term peace.
"All the Seleka aren't Muslims, and all the
Muslims aren't Seleka," said Roman Catholic Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga of
Bangui, referring to the rebel forces that overthrew CAR's government in March,
sparking a bloodbath that has displaced roughly a million people and killed
more than 1,000 in recent weeks alone. He was joined by the country's top
Muslim cleric, Imam Kobine Layama.
Nzapalainga described their travels across CAR in
recent months, trying to preach reconciliation. He cited examples of how CAR's
minority Muslims and majority Christians tried to protect one another.
"We discovered the Muslim community suffered as
much as the Christian community," Nzapalainga said.
The two clerics are using their European trip —
they head to London next — to drum up support for a UN peacekeeping force in
CAR to bolster French and African Union troops there. They also urged support
for the country's newly elected interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, the
former mayor of Bangui and a rare female head of state in Africa.
Earlier this week, the European Union agreed to
dispatch 500 troops to CAR and pledged nearly $500 million in humanitarian
assistance. The United States has also announced an additional $30 million in
Even with the new support, the clerics said,
their country is on the edge.
"We saw many orphaned children. We saw widows and
old people who have been abandoned without assistance," Layama said. "There
have been enormous violations. These recent years have left our country in a
serious situation and on the verge of famine."


text:
Directed and written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Cinematography by Xaver Schwarzenberger.
Based on the novel Querelle de Brest by Jean Genet.
Starring Brad Davis, Burkhard Driest, Günther Kaufmann,
Laurent Malet, Jeanne Moreau, Franco Nero and Hanno Pöschl.
Original DVD framegrab photographs by Will Holub 2015.
Click on any of the labels below to see related posts.


text:
Shocking video has emerged of cops posing as anarchist protesters at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, in yet another example of authorities attempting to provoke chaos at global summits in order to justify a brutal police crackdown.
Footage from Saturday night shows three burly older men who look completely out of place with black bandanas over their face walking alongside young protesters during a march against police brutality in a You Tube clip entitled "G20 Epic Undercover Police Fail".
The clip would be hilarious if it was not so disturbing. Protesters walking behind what are obviously badly disguised cops claim they broke cameras and acted aggressively towards genuine protesters, as well as carrying gas canisters. During a peaceful demonstration on Saturday night, riot cops savagely attacked protesters with batons and rubber bullets while also assaulting and arresting students who weren't even part of the demonstration.
At one point one of the undercover cops states, "Let's not make this too much fun, I'm tired, I'm getting old."
"Do you think it's funny to mock our First Amendment rights, asks a demonstrator as onlookers begin to become aware that the men are obviously police officers dressed up as anarchists.
At every single major summit over the past few years, authorities have inserted agent provocateurs into protest groups in order to spy on them and if necessary, provoke violence to justify oppressive police brutality in the eyes of the watching world.
We have documented numerous different occasions where the leadership of the black bloc anarchists were actually working with the authorities to provide a pretext for a police state crackdown.
During the previous G20 protest in London, black bloc anarchists were allowed by police to smash up bank buildings while being accompanied by more press photographers than other protesters in what was obviously a stage-managed spectacle for mass consumption, while legitimate protest groups were refused "permits" to protest by the government.
Following the SPP protests in Canada two years ago, Quebec provincial authorities were forced to admit that three rock-wielding black mask-wearing "anarchists" were in fact police infiltrators used to gather information on protesters.
Video shows two of the provocateurs pick up rocks and try to incite violence before they are outed as cops by legitimate demonstrators. The two thugs then tried to slip behind police lines before their fellow officers were forced to stage their arrest. Again, the fact that they were cops in disguise was later admitted by authorities. Watch the video.
Alex Jones' film Police State 2: The Takeover exposed how the black bloc anarchists were completely infiltrated and provocateured by the authorities during the violent 1999 WTO protests in Seattle.
The authorities declared a state of emergency, imposed curfews and resorted to nothing short of police state tactics in response to a small minority of hostile black bloc hooligans. Police allowed the black bloc to run riot in downtown Seattle while they concentrated on preventing the movement of peaceful protestors. The film presents clear evidence that the black bloc anarchist group was actually controlled by the state and used to demonize peaceful protesters. Watch the video below.
At the WTO protests in Genoa 2001 a protestor was killed after being shot in the head and run over twice by a police vehicle. The Italian Carabinere also later beat on peaceful protestors as they slept, and even tortured some, at the Diaz School. It later emerged that the police fabricated evidence against the protesters, claiming they were anarchist rioters, to justify their actions. Some Carabiniere officials have since come forward to say they knew of infiltration of the so called black bloc anarchists, and that fellow officers acted as agent provocateurs.
At the Free Trade Area of Americas protests in Miami in late November 2003, more provocateuring was evident. The United Steelworkers of America calling for a congressional investigation, stated that the police intentionally caused violence and arrested and charged hundreds of peaceful protestors. The USWA suggested that billions of dollars supposedly slated for Iraq reconstruction funds are actually being used to subsidize "homeland repression" in America.
Despite being caught over and over again dressed up as anarchists and posing as protesters, authorities are still content to use agent provocateurs in a desperate and underhanded attempt to make heightening levels of police brutality somehow appear as a legitimate response. Since this maneuver has now been totally discredited and everyone is fully aware of it, it's unlikely that they will be able to get away with it at all for future protests.
Source: https://www.infowars.com/provocateur-cops-caught-disguised-as-anarchists-at-g20/


text:
Start Dropshipping in Argentina with Oberlo!
Discover everything you need to easily run your online dropshipping business in Argentina. And it's free!
Why Start a Dropshipping Business in Argentina?
In 2020 it is projected that Argentina's eCommerce market will amount to US$3,966m. As well as this, revenue is expected to grow 6.6 percent to US$5,124m by 2024. This in itself is a good indication of the health of the Argentinian market but what is very interesting for this wonderful country is the user penetration metric that Statista reports on. This year that metric is 66.5 percent for Argentina and it is expected to grow to 71.5 percent in 2024. Considering Argentina's user penetration this year is 78.4 percent, and the US is 80.9 percent, Argentina is a growing ecommerce market with many possibilities that other more developed markets do not have.
The largest ecommerce markets in Argentina are toys, and hobbies which gives a good understanding of where to start when deciding to dropship to the Argentinian market. But there is so much potential for accessories, clothing, and pet supplies that there is no limit to what you can sell. With an open mind and a great brand, dropshipping in Argentina can be a great business opportunity for any entrepreneur.
Why Dropshipping is Better Than Wholesale in Argentina
Dropshipping allows you to enter a new market while keeping costs and risks low for you. It is an affordable alternative to wholesale because you only pay for products as customers make purchases. With Oberlo, dropshipping can be even easier as most of the work is automated — you can do it yourself with time to spare. Dropshipping also reduces the cost of warehousing, and shipping to zero as you don't need to place an order with your supplier until a customer has bought it from you. With the option of ePacket shipping you can guarantee fast delivery of products that only costs a few dollars and can sometimes even be free.
Dropshipping in Argentina is a great opportunity to test new products on an emerging market and really understand your audience and what they need. If you are unsure about what to start selling check out our What to Sell Online article for inspiration.
Payment Gateways in Argentina
- 2Checkout
- BitPay
- Cartão de Crédito e Boleto via EBANX
- Cartão de Crédito em até 12x via EBANX
- Checkout.com
- Coinbase Commerce
- ComproPago
- EBANX Payments in Latin America
- GoCoin
- Mercado Pago
- PayPal Express Checkout
- PayU Latam
- Splitit Monthly Payments


text:
Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artists
Jake Chapman born 1966
Dinos Chapman born 1962 - Part of
- Exquisite Corpse
- Medium
- Etching on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 225 × 176 mm
plate: 225 × 176 mm
support: 465 × 380 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased 2000
- Reference
Exquisite Corpse is a portfolio of twenty images. It was produced in an edition of thirty. Ten of the sets were hand-coloured in watercolour. This set, the tenth in the edition, is in black and white. The edition was printed and published by Charles Booth-Clibborn under his imprint The Paragon Press, London.
The series is based on a game, developed by the Surrealists from the traditional game of Consequences, called Le Cadavre Exquis, or Exquisite Corpse. The Surrealists' game involves a piece of paper, folded horizontally concertina-fashion onto which, in turn, each member of a group draws a part of a body, without being able to see what others have drawn on the paper. The final result is a body or character of composite parts. The Chapman brothers have collaborated artistically since the early 1990s and decided to use the game to emphasise the dual nature of their work together, exploring difference within a unit. In this case they drew onto etching plates instead of pieces of paper. Each brother created ten head sections and had them covered by an assistant before exchanging plates and proceeding with the torso sections. The plates were again covered and exchanged for the remaining sections, ensuring that all four parts of the etchings were randomly matched. On some images the quarterly divisions are clearly visible and the background shaded in a horizontal segment; on others the different parts are less distinct. The artists have used a range of different drawing styles making it hard for the viewer to identify any one section with any particular hand. A selection of tools and differing degrees of pressure on the plate have resulted in a variety of effects. One section has been created using tiny dots made with a delicate tool, many others are finely etched in intricate lines. Simpler cartoon figures contrast with convoluted, messy and highly textured areas. The project was completed in twenty days.
The figures created in the portfolio are multi-limbed and frequently many-headed, like many of the Chapmans' sculptures. Disasters of War 1993 (Tate T07454) and Hell 2000 (Saatchi Collection, London) are composed of cut up and reconstituted bodies. The etchings feature imagery common to the Chapmans' work in other media: skulls, eyeballs on stalks, grotesque animal heads, liquids dripping and spurting from wounds, orifices, nipples and shower-heads, writhing intestines, claw-like hands and feet. Around the edges of the figures tiny spiders hang from threads and flies crawl. Insects' wings and branching roots appear in the place of limbs. The images recreate the worlds of such artists as Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516) and Goya (Fransisco de Goya y Lucientes, 1746-1819) with a contemporary feel. The Chapmans have referred to their work as having an 'infantile dialectic' (quoted in fig-1: 50 projects, 50 weeks), expressed through their exaggerated, comic-horror aesthetic.
The Chapmans are highly aware of the conceptual aspects of their work. Ever since they stencilled their self-defining anti-aesthetic manifesto We Are Artists onto a mud-splattered wall at the ICA, London in 1992, they have attempted to direct readings of their work and its subtext. Influenced by Surrealism and George Bataille, they are interested in psychological and psychoanalytical approaches. They have claimed of Exquisite Corpse that 'it is an incredibly sincere project', saying:
With two people, the work always originates from the point of view of conversation - not necessarily egalitarian dialectic, but at least it is some kind of an ego battle of one-upmanship and game playing
the Exquisite Corpses [sic] suggest that in another possible way: that we can produce work without us having to bend and reduce it
One of the things that we would be interested in
is to inject ideas of the artist's mark of creativity, of drawing
It's not about compromise
It's a constant battle between [my brother's] desires and my desires
And that makes a friction that you make something out of.
(Quoted in fig-1: 50 projects, 50 weeks.)
Further reading:
Ant Noises at the Saatchi Gallery 2, exhibition catalogue, Saatchi Gallery, London 2000, [p.2], reproduced inside front and back covers
Patrick Elliott, Contemporary Art in Print, London 2001, pp.260, 329, reproduced pp.261-9
'Week 9, March 20-25, 2000: Jake + Dinos Chapman', fig-1: 50 projects 50 weeks, boxed loose-leaf exhibition catalogue, fig-1, London 2001, reproduced (colour)
Elizabeth Manchester
January 2002
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
- emotions, concepts and ideas(16,416)
- emotions and human qualities(5,345)
- horror(180)
- formal qualities(12,454)
- cartoon / comic strip(177)
- chance(1,450)
- fragmentation(233)


text:
Melissa & Doug Cheetah - Plush
Beauty and elegance define cheetahs in the wild. This tame cheetah, over four feet from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail, is content to sit by your side. Featuring excellent quality construction and attention to details, noticeable in the beautiful markings on its face, this cheetah is a lovable companion or bold decorating accent. Built sturdy. Not intended as a seat or ride-on.
Age 3+